30 Women Who Kicked Ass In 2013

Who run the world?

1. Malala Yousafzai, for fighting for human rights even after the Taliban's horrific attack on her:

Larry Busacca / Getty Images

2. Wendy Davis, for standing on her feet for 11 straight hours and filibustering an anti-abortion bill in Texas:

3. Daisy Coleman, for bravely speaking up about her side of the Maryville rape media storm:

xoJane / Via xojane.com

"When I went to a dance competition I saw a girl there who was wearing a T-shirt she made. It read: 'Matt 1, Daisy 0.'"

Read the full article here.

4. Gloria Steinem, for winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her career dedicated to women's rights:

Larry Downing / Reuters

5. Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, for going on a hunger strike over the conditions of the women's prison she was in:

AFP / Getty Images

She has since been moved to a prison in Siberia as punishment.

6. Edith Windsor, for helping declare DOMA unconstitutional on June 26:

And releasing this beautiful video of her and her partner Thea's long life together.

7. Jennifer Lawrence, for saying this about body image:

Yahoo! / Via milakunis.tumblr.com

Yahoo! / Via milakunis.tumblr.com

8. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for being the first justice to officiate a same-sex wedding:

Billy Ingram / WireImage

9. "Radical feminist" Nina Pillard, for being confirmed by the Senate as a Federal Court judge:

She has been heavily compared to Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

10. Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira, who was the guiding force behind legalizing same-sex marriage in France:

Antoine Antoniol / Getty Images

11. Actress Mallika Sherawat, when she refused to cover up the serious problems women in India face for the sake of nationalistic pride.

12. Melissa Harris-Perry, for ripping POLITICO writer Michelle Cottle when she called Michelle Obama a feminist nightmare:

13. Evan Rachel Wood, for commenting on the double standards female sexuality faces in the media.

Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images

(On Twitter): "After seeing the new cut of #CharlieCountryman I would like 2 share my disappointment with the MPAA, who thought it was necessary to censor a woman's sexuality once again. The scene where the two main characters make "love" was altered because someone felt that seeing a man give a woman oral sex made people "uncomfortable" but the scenes in which people are murdered by having their heads blown off remained intact and unaltered. This is a symptom of a society that wants to shame women and put them down for enjoying sex, especially when (gasp) the man isn't getting off as well! Its hard for me to believe that had the roles been reversed it still would have been cut OR had the female character been raped it would have been cut. Its time for people to GROW UP. Accept that women are sexual beings. Accept that some men like pleasuring women. Accept that women don't have to just be fucked and say thank you. We are allowed and entitled to enjoy ourselves. Its time we put our foot down. Thank you for listening."

14. The cast and crew behind Orange Is The New Black, for providing so many new female voices in television:

Netflix / Via collider.com

15. Mindy Kaling, for this interview in Parade Magazine.

Mike Windle / Getty Images

"There are little Indian girls out there who look up to me, and I never want to belittle the honor of being an inspiration to them. But while I’m talking about why I’m so different, white male show runners get to talk about their art.”

16. Mikki Kendall, for starting the popular Twitter hashtag #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen.

Via Twitter: @Karnythia

(And bringing race into the online feminist conversation.)

17. Femen, for staging protests around the world for women's rights:

Sean Gallup / Getty Images

They protested at the Saudi embassy in Berlin against a law prohibiting female drivers, in Madrid challenging a pro-life demonstration, and in Russia against Vladimir Putin (to name a few.)

18. Beyoncé, for the feminist album she just came out with.

Buda Mendes / Getty Images

Have you heard about it?

19. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, for giving this incredible TED talk about feminism (later sampled in a Beyoncé song):

20. Kelly Martin Broderick for making We Are What Feminists Look Like, after having her own photo fat-shamed:

Via wearewhatfeministslooklike.tumblr.com

21. Senator Elizabeth Warren, for her response to the Republicans' Government Shutdown threats:

"The single most important issue facing our nation is to change the law so that employers can deny women access to birth control coverage. In fact, letting employers decide whether they can get birth control covered on their insurance plans is so important that the Republicans are willing to shutter the government and potentially tank the economy."

22. Anna Gunn, for writing an article about the misogyny her character in Breaking Bad faced from some fans of the show:

Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

"As an actress, I realize that viewers are entitled to have whatever feelings they want about the characters they watch. But as a human being, I’m concerned that so many people react to Skyler with such venom. Could it be that they can’t stand a woman who won’t suffer silently or “stand by her man”? That they despise her because she won’t back down or give up? Or because she is, in fact, Walter’s equal?"

23. Zerlina Maxwell, for her appearance on Fox News where she talked about the true root of sexual assault.

And fiercely disputed the argument that women should carry weapons to prevent rape.

24. Elizabeth Smart, for refusing to be known as a victim and publishing a book about her abduction 10 years ago:

Via amazon.com

Purchase here.

25. Hillary Clinton for vowing to keep fighting for women's rights at a public appearance in April:

AP Photo/Cliff Owen

26. Raven-Symone, for coming out as a lesbian after the legalization of same-sex marriage in more US states:

Theo Wargo / Getty Images

27. Natalie Portman, for her interview in Elle UK:

Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images

"I want every version of a woman and a man to be possible. I want women and men to be able to be full-time parents or full-time working people or any combination of the two. I want both to be able to do whatever they want sexually without being called names. I want them to be allowed to be weak and strong and happy and sad -- human, basically. The fallacy in Hollywood is that if you’re making a "feminist" story, the woman kicks ass and wins. That’s not feminist, that’s macho. A movie about a weak, vulnerable woman can be feminist if it shows a real person that we can empathize with."

28. Alice Munro, for winning the Nobel Prize for Literature and giving this lovely interview:

"I never knew about the word "feminism," but of course I was a feminist."

29. Charlotte Laws, for writing this brave piece about her work as an anti-revenge porn activist:

xoJane / Via xojane.com

30. The NYC Girls Project, for starting this empowering ad campaign around the city:

Via nyc.gov

Columbia Records / Via ccpancakes.tumblr.com